Method of forming polycrystalline silicon thin film and method of manufacturing thin film transistor using the method

ABSTRACT

Provided is a method of forming a polycrystalline silicon thin film with improved electrical characteristics. The method includes forming an amorphous silicon thin film on a substrate, partially melting a portion of the amorphous silicon thin film by irradiating the portion of the amorphous silicon thin film with a laser beam having a low energy density, forming polycrystalline silicon grains with a predetermined crystalline arrangement by crystallizing the partially molten portion of the amorphous silicon thin film, completely melting a portion of the polycrystalline silicon grains and a portion of the amorphous silicon thin film by irradiation of a laser beam having a high energy density while repeatedly moving the substrate by a predetermined distance, and growing the polycrystalline silicon grains by crystallizing the completely molten silicon homogeneously with the predetermined crystalline arrangement.

This application is a Continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/506,723, entitled “METHOD OF FORMINGPOLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON THIN FILM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THIN FILMTRANSISTOR USING THE METHOD”, filed on Aug. 18, 2006, which claimspriority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0076347 filed onAug. 19, 2005 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, both of whichare incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of forming a polycrystallinesilicon thin film with improved electrical characteristics and a methodof manufacturing a thin film transistor using the method.

2. Description of the Related Art

A general liquid crystal display uses an amorphous silicon thin filmtransistor (a-Si TFT) as a switching element. In recent years, with thedemand for high-definition display quality LCDs, a polycrystallinesilicon thin film transistor (poly-Si TFT) having a high driving speedis widely used.

In the poly-Si TFT, various methods for forming the poly-Si thin filmare well known. Of the different types of methods for forming poly-Si,the poly-Si thin film may be formed directly on a substrate made of, forexample, glass. Second, the poly-Si thin film may be formed by formingan amorphous-Si (a-Si) thin film and then annealing the same.

In general, a glass substrate used in an LCD may deform during a generalannealing treatment process performed at about 600° C. Thus, an excimerlaser annealing (ELA) process has been suggested in order to anneal thea-Si thin film. According to the ELA process, laser beams having highenergy are irradiated on the a-Si thin film. That is, the a-Si thin filmis instantaneously melted for several nanoseconds (ns) andrecrystallized without causing damages to the glass substrate.

In addition, the ELA process provides a Si thin film having a relativelyhigh electric mobility such that Si atoms are rearranged in grainshaving high crystallinity when the a-Si thin film is melted in a liquidphase and then solidified.

In amorphous silicon thin film transistors (a-Si TFTs) used as switchingdevices of conventional liquid crystal displays (LCDs), an amorphoussilicon thin film is crystallized into a polycrystalline silicon thinfilm by conventional excimer laser annealing. However, thepolycrystalline silicon thin film is composed of grains with allcrystalline plane orientations, i.e., with no regularity of crystallineplane orientations.

Generally, it is known that the {110} or {111} crystalline plane ofpolycrystalline silicon exhibits electrical mobility of about 300-400cm²/V·s, whereas the {100} crystalline plane of polycrystalline siliconexhibits electrical mobility of about 600 cm²/V·s. For example, when apolycrystalline silicon thin film has grains predominantly oriented inthe {100} crystalline plane direction, electrical mobility can beenhanced by about 1.5-2 times.

Thus, in order to enhance electrical characteristics of apolycrystalline silicon thin film transistor, it is necessary to formgrains with selectively specific crystalline plane orientation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method of forming a polycrystallinesilicon thin film with improved electrical characteristics.

The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing a thinfilm transistor using the method of forming the polycrystalline siliconthin film.

The above stated features and advantages, of the present invention willbecome clear to those skilled in the art upon review of the followingdescription.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of forming a polycrystalline silicon thin film. The methodcomprises forming an amorphous silicon thin film; partially melting in aregion a portion of the amorphous silicon thin film by irradiating theregion of the amorphous silicon thin film with a laser beam having afirst energy density whereby polycrystalline silicon grains with apredetermined crystalline arrangement are formed in the region ofpartially molten amorphous silicon thin film; and completely melting aportion of the polycrystalline silicon grains within the region and aportion of the amorphous silicon thin film adjacent to the region byirradiation of a laser beam having a second energy density greater thanthe first energy density.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent in light of the detailed description below ofthe exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attacheddrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating an apparatus used in a method offorming a polycrystalline silicon thin film according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a method of forming a polycrystallinesilicon thin film according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a part A of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A through 4F are sectional views illustrating a process ofgrowing a polycrystalline silicon thin film by the method shown in FIG.2;

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the {100} texture ratio ofpolycrystalline silicon grains crystallized from partially moltensilicon with respect to the number of pulse cycles of laser beamirradiated onto amorphous silicon;

FIGS. 6A through 6D are schematic plan views illustrating a process ofgrowing a polycrystalline silicon thin film in a method of forming apolycrystalline silicon thin film according to an embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIGS. 7A through 7D are sequential sectional views illustrating a methodof manufacturing a thin film transistor according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is described below more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of thisinvention are shown. Advantages and features of the present inventionand methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily byreference to the following detailed description of preferred embodimentsand the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as beinglimited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete andwill fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in theart, and the present invention will only be defined by the appendedclaims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout thespecification.

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating an apparatus used in a method offorming a polycrystalline silicon thin film according to an embodimentof the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a method offorming a polycrystalline silicon thin film according to an embodimentof the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of aportion “A” of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, an apparatus for forming apolycrystalline silicon thin film 140 includes a laser 10, an XY-stage20, and a substrate 100.

Here, the laser 10 generates intermittently a laser beam 200 which isradiated onto the substrate 100. Preferably, the laser 10 is an excimerlaser generating a short wavelength, high power, and high efficiencylaser beam. The excimer laser may include, for example, an inert gas, ahalide of the inert gas, mercury halide, an acidic compound of inertgas, a multi-element excimer, or the like. Examples of the inert gasinclude Ar₂, Kr₂, and Xe₂. Examples of the halide of the inert gasinclude ArF, ArCl, KrF, KrCl, XeF, and XeCl. Examples of the mercuryhalide include HgCl, HgBr, and HgI. Examples of the acidic compound ofinert gas include ArO, KrO, and XeO. Examples of the multi-elementexcimer include Kr₂F, and Xe₂F.

The laser beam generated from the excimer laser has a wavelength of 200to 400 nm, and preferably, 250 nm or 308 nm. That is to say, since thesolid phase a-Si thin film 132 serves as a nucleus for growth of grainsof poly-Si thin film 142, the poly-Si thin film 142 grows laterally fromeither side thereof by half a width of the laser beam 200. Here, thepoly-Si thin film 142 grows laterally as long as 1 μm to 10 μm,typically 2 μm to 4 μm.

Here, the laser beam 200 is of pulse form. The pulse width is in a rangefrom 20 to 300 ns, and preferably, about 240 nanoseconds (ns). Thefrequency of the laser beam 200 is in a range from 300 to 6,000 Hz, andpreferably, from 4,000 to 6,000 Hz.

In addition, the laser 10 may be a solid-state laser capable ofproducing a high-power, pulsed laser beam from a miniature apparatus ina short time. The solid laser is exemplified by a ruby laser having awavelength of 694.3 nm, an Nd:YAG laser having a wavelength of 1064 nm,an Nd:glass laser having a wavelength of 1064 nm, and so on. Forconvenience of illustration, the present invention will be describedhereinafter with respect to excimer laser.

The XY-stage 20 supports the substrate 100, and gradually moves thesubstrate 100 by a predetermined distance. For example, the XY-stage 20gradually moves the substrate 100 by a predetermined distance from rightto left.

Whenever the substrate 100 is gradually moved by the XY-stage 20, thelaser beam 200 generated from the laser 10 is radiated onto thesubstrate 100 while it is relatively gradually moved from a first end102 of the substrate 100 to a second end 104 of the substrate 100. Here,the first end 102 of the substrate 100 refers to the left side of thesubstrate 100, and the second end 104 of the substrate 100 refers to theright side of the substrate 100. On the contrary, the XY-stage 20 mayalso gradually move the substrate 100 by a predetermined distance fromleft to right.

The substrate 100 is disposed on the XY-stage 20, and includes atransparent substrate 110, an oxide layer 120, and an amorphous siliconthin film 130. The size of the substrate 100 may be varied according tothe purpose of use.

The transparent substrate 110 is disposed on the XY-stage 20, and ismade of glass or quartz to allow light to pass therethrough. The oxidelayer 120 is disposed on the transparent substrate 110 to improveinterface characteristics between the transparent substrate 110 and theamorphous silicon thin film 130. The a-Si thin film 130 is formed on theoxidation layer 120 by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and is made ofamorphous silicon.

The laser beam 200 generated from the laser 10 is radiated onto theamorphous silicon thin film 130 and instantaneously melts a portion ofthe amorphous silicon thin film 130. The molten portion of the amorphoussilicon thin film 130 rapidly undergoes solid-phase crystallization tothereby form the polycrystalline silicon thin film 140 made ofpolycrystalline silicon (p-Si).

FIGS. 4A through 4F are sectional views illustrating a process ofgrowing a polycrystalline silicon thin film by the method shown in FIG.2. More specifically, FIG. 4A illustrates the partial melting of anamorphous silicon thin film by initial laser beam radiation. FIG. 4Billustrates the lateral growth of polycrystalline silicon, FIG. 4Cillustrates the formation of a protruding portion 146 at the middle ofthe lateral growth length of the polycrystalline silicon, FIG. 4Dillustrates the melting of the protruding portion 146 by laser beamirradiation, FIG. 4E illustrates the lateral growth of polycrystallinesilicon, and FIG. 4F illustrates the formation of a protruding portion146 at the middle of the lateral growth length of the polycrystallinesilicon.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4A, first, a substrate 100 having thereon anamorphous silicon thin film 132 and a laser 10 generating a laser beam200 are prepared. The substrate 100 is disposed on an XY-stage 20, andthe laser beam 200 has a narrow width and a long length. Preferably, alength of the laser beam 200 is substantially the same as the length ofa side of the substrate 100, and a width of the laser beam 200 is twicethe lateral growth length of silicon grains. For example, the width ofthe laser beam 200 may range from 2 to 20 μm, and more preferably, from4 to 8 μm.

Next, the laser beam 200 generated from the laser 10 is irradiated ontoa portion of the amorphous silicon thin film 132 formed on a first endof the substrate 100. The portion of the amorphous silicon thin film 132treated with the laser beam 200 is phase-transformed into liquid-phasesilicon 134 by melting, whereas the other portion of the amorphoussilicon thin film 132 untreated with the laser beam 200 is maintained assolid-phase amorphous silicon without being melted.

Here, amorphous silicon of the amorphous silicon thin film 132 is notcompletely melted with the laser beam 200 due to its insufficient energydensity, and thus, the solid-phase amorphous silicon and theliquid-phase silicon coexist. The region at which the solid-phaseamorphous silicon and the liquid-phase silicon coexist is designated“partial melting region.”

Here, the laser beam 200 has a low energy density, i.e., about 300-500mJ/cm², and preferably about 400 mJ/cm². In addition, the laser beam 200is a pulsed excimer, and has a width in a range from 20 ns to 300 ns,preferably about 240 ns. The laser beam 200 has a frequency in a rangefrom 300 Hz to 6000 Hz, preferably 4000 Hz to 6000 Hz.

Amorphous silicon can be partially melted even by only a single pulse ofthe laser beam 200. However, to improve crystallinity by reducing thedefects of crystallized silicon grains and to achieve a poly-Si thinfilm predominantly in the {100} crystalline plane orientation, theamorphous silicon thin film 132 is continuously irradiated with 80 ormore pulses of the laser beam 200. A detailed description thereof willbe provided later.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the liquid-phase silicon 134 is crystallizedlaterally from both sides of the liquid-phase silicon 134 to the middleportion to thereby form polycrystalline silicon 142. Here, thesolid-phase amorphous silicon thin film 132 serves as silicon grainnuclei for growing the polycrystalline silicon 142. That is to say,since the solid phase a-Si thin film 132 serves as a nucleus for growthof grains of poly-Si thin film 142, the poly-Si thin film 142 growslaterally from either side thereof by half a width of the laser beam200. Here, the poly-Si thin film 142 grows laterally as long as 1 μm to10 μm, typically 2 μm to 4 μm.

The texture characteristics of the polycrystalline silicon 142 will beappreciated by reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the{100} texture ratio of polycrystalline silicon grains crystallized frompartially molten silicon with respect to the number of pulse cycles oflaser beam irradiated onto amorphous silicon. As shown in FIG. 5, as thenumber of pulse cycles of laser beam increases, the {100} texture ratioincreases. That is, as the number of pulse cycles of the laser beam 200for forming the liquid-phase silicon 134 as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4Bincreases, the {100} texture ratio of silicon grains constituting thepolycrystalline silicon 142 increases. This is because when silicongrains have {100} crystalline plane, the interface energy between thepolycrystalline silicon 142 and the underlying oxide layer 120decreases, which gives predominantly {100} texture at the partialmelting region.

To improve the electrical mobility of silicon grains, it is preferablethat the {100} texture ratio be about 50% or more. Thus, it ispreferable that the amorphous silicon thin film 132 be irradiated withabout 80 or more pulses of the laser beam 200. When the amorphoussilicon thin film 132 is radiated with about 150 or more pulses of thelaser beam 200, about 90% or more of crystallized grains have {100}texture.

Generally, it is known that the {110} or {111} crystalline plane of apolycrystalline silicon thin film exhibits electrical mobility of about300-400 cm²/V·s, whereas the {100} crystalline plane exhibits electricalmobility of about 600 cm²/V·s. In this regard, in the present invention,the polycrystalline silicon 142 with major {100} texture can be obtainedby repeated irradiation of the laser beam 200 with a relatively lowenergy density. Therefore, electrical mobility can be enhanced, whichmakes it possible to manufacture a polycrystalline silicon thin filmtransistor with improved electrical characteristics.

Referring to FIG. 4C, a protruding portion 146 is formed to apredetermined height at the middle of the lateral growth length of thepolycrystalline silicon 142. The protruding portion 146 is caused whenthe lateral growth extending from both sides of the liquid-phase silicon134 meets at the middle portion, and reduces the electrical mobility ofthe polycrystalline silicon 142. In this respect, it is preferable toremove the protruding portion 146 in a silicon thin film requiring highelectrical mobility.

Referring to FIG. 4D, the substrate 100 is irradiated with a laser beam200′ with high energy density after it is moved by a predetermineddistance from a first end (see 102 of FIG. 2) to a second end (see 104of FIG. 2), to melt and remove the protruding portion 146. That is, whenthe substrate 100 is irradiated with the laser beam 200′, the protrudingportion 146, a portion of the polycrystalline silicon 142, and a portionof the amorphous silicon thin film 132 are completely melted to formliquid-phase silicon 134 again. Preferably, the substrate 100 is movedby such a distance so that the protruding portion 146 can be completelymelted.

That is to say, a movement distance of the laser beam 200′ may besmaller than a lateral growth length of liquid phase silicon 134,preferably less than half a width of the laser beam 200, more preferablyin a range from 1 μm to 10 μm.

The laser beam 200 has a high energy density, and thus, can completelymelt the portions of the polycrystalline silicon 142 and the amorphoussilicon thin film 132 treated with the laser beam 200′. The region atwhich the polycrystalline silicon 142 and the amorphous silicon thinfilm 132 are completely melted is designated “complete melting region.”The laser beam 200 of FIG. 4A and the laser beam 200′ of FIG. 4D aresubstantially the same except energy density. That is, the laser beam200′ has a high energy density, i.e., about 600-900 mJ/cm², andpreferably, about 800 mJ/cm². The laser beam 200′ can completely meltthe amorphous silicon thin film 132 even by only a single pulse. In somecases, several pulse irradiation of the laser beam 200′ may also berequired.

Referring to FIG. 4E, the liquid-phase silicon 134 of FIG. 4Dcrystallizes laterally from both sides of the liquid-phase silicon 134to the middle portion. During this second solid-phase crystallization,the polycrystalline silicon 142 disposed at the left of the liquid-phasesilicon 134 absorbs the liquid-phase silicon 134 and extends toward theright side, whereas the amorphous silicon thin film 132 disposed at theright of the liquid-phase silicon 134 grows toward the left side to anextent that is half a width of the laser beam 200. At this time, a leftportion of polycrystalline silicon 142 formed by the second solid-phasecrystallization is grown from grain nuclei formed by the firstsolid-phase crystallization, which predominantly grows {100} texturegrains. Therefore, during subsequent continuing solid-phasecrystallization, the polycrystalline silicon 142 consists mainly of{100} texture grains.

Referring to FIG. 4F, a protruding portion 146 is again formed to apredetermined height at the middle of the lateral growth length of thepolycrystalline silicon 142. When the protruding portion 146 is againformed, the substrate 100 is moved by a predetermined distance to meltthe protruding portion 146 by the laser beam 200. Liquid-phase silicon(not shown) obtained by the melting of the protruding portion 146 againundergoes lateral crystallization. The repeated cycles of theabove-described melting and lateral growth result in a polycrystallinesilicon thin film with higher electrical mobility.

FIGS. 6A through 6C are schematic plan views illustrating a process ofgrowing a polycrystalline silicon thin film in a method of forming apolycrystalline silicon thin film according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. More specifically, FIG. 6A is a plan view of apoly-Si thin film with first laser beam irradiation. FIG. 6B is a planview of a poly-Si thin film with second laser beam irradiation, FIG. 6Cis a plan view of a poly-Si thin film with third laser beam irradiation,and FIG. 6D is a plan view of a poly-Si thin film resulting aftercrystallization is completed with laser beams irradiated several times.

Referring to FIG. 6A, first irradiation of a laser beam 200 with lowenergy density is applied to a portion of an amorphous silicon thinfilm. The portion of the amorphous silicon thin film affected by thelaser beam 200 is partially melted to be transformed into liquid-phasesilicon. The liquid-phase silicon is solid-phase crystallized by lateralgrowth from the solid-phase amorphous silicon thin film at both sides ofthe liquid-phase silicon to thereby form polycrystalline silicon 150.During the lateral growth of the polycrystalline silicon 150, thesolid-phase amorphous silicon thin film at both sides of theliquid-phase silicon serves as nuclei for growing a plurality of silicongrains 148 of the polycrystalline silicon 150. The silicon grains 148grow and meet to form silicon grain boundaries 144 among the silicongrains 148.

In addition, as a result of lateral growth of the silicon grains 148, aprotruding portion 146 is formed to a predetermined height at the middleof the lateral growth length. The protruding portion 146 is formed inalmost a straight line along the middle portion of the lateral growthlength corresponding to half a width of the laser beam 200.

Referring to FIG. 6B, after a substrate (not shown) is moved by apredetermined distance, a portion of the polycrystalline silicon 150 anda portion of the amorphous silicon thin film are again irradiated withthe laser beam 200, this time however with high energy density. At thistime, it is preferable that a first movement distance D1 of thesubstrate be equal to or less than half a short-axis direction width ofthe laser beam 200 to melt and remove the protruding portion 146. Forexample, the first movement distance D1 of the substrate is in a rangefrom 1 to 10 μm.

In addition, if the amorphous silicon thin film is excessivelyirradiated with the laser beam 200, it may be peeled off by the laserbeam 200. To prevent the peeling-off of the amorphous silicon thin film,it is preferable that an overlapping area between two adjacentlaser-irradiated regions be 90% or less of the total area of the twolaser-irradiated regions.

The second irradiation of the laser beam 200 melts the protrudingportion 146, a portion of the polycrystalline silicon 150, and a portionof the amorphous silicon thin film, to thereby form liquid-phase siliconagain. The polycrystalline silicon 150 formed by the first irradiationof the laser beam 200 is disposed at a side of the liquid-phase siliconand the existing solid-phase amorphous silicon thin film is disposed atthe other side of the liquid-phase silicon.

At this time, the silicon grains 148 of the polycrystalline silicon 150absorb the liquid-phase silicon and extend in one direction, whereas thesolid-phase amorphous silicon thin film absorbs the liquid-phase siliconand grows new silicon grains 148 in the other direction. As a result ofthe lateral growth of the silicon grains 148, a new protruding portion146 is formed to a predetermined height at the middle of the lateralgrowth length.

Referring to FIG. 6C, after the substrate is again moved by apredetermined distance, third irradiation of the laser beam 200 withhigh energy density is applied to a portion of the polycrystallinesilicon 150 and a portion of the amorphous silicon thin film. At thistime, it is preferable that the second movement distance D2 of thesubstrate be equal to the first movement distance D1 of the substrate,i.e., that the second movement distance D2 of the substrate be equal toor less than half a short-axis direction width of the laser beam 200 tomelt and remove the newly formed protruding portion 146.

The portion of the polycrystalline silicon 150 and the portion of theamorphous silicon thin film affected by the third irradiation of thelaser beam 200 are melted to form liquid-phase silicon again. At thistime, the silicon grains 148 of the polycrystalline silicon 150 at aside of the liquid-phase silicon absorb the liquid-phase silicon andextend farther in one direction, whereas the solid-phase amorphoussilicon thin film at the other side of the liquid-phase silicon absorbsthe liquid-phase silicon and grows new silicon grains 148 in the otherdirection. As a result of the lateral growth of the silicon grains 148,a protruding portion 146 is again formed to a predetermined height atthe middle of the lateral growth length.

As described above, the silicon grains 148 grow laterally by therepeated creation and removal of the protruding portion 146, therebyforming polycrystalline silicon 150 with higher electrical mobility asshown in FIG. 6D.

The polycrystalline silicon 150 thus completed is composed of aplurality of silicon grains 148 and a plurality of silicon grainboundaries 144. The silicon grains 148 grow parallel to each other. Thesilicon grain boundaries 144 also grow parallel to each otheraccordingly. Therefore, the polycrystalline silicon 150 exhibits highelectrical mobility from one side to the other side.

According to the above-described embodiment, since an amorphous siliconthin film is repeatedly irradiated with a laser beam with the movementof a substrate by a predetermined distance, a polycrystalline siliconthin film including large-sized silicon grains can be formed.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor using themethod of forming the polycrystalline silicon thin film illustrated withreference to FIGS. 1 through 6D will be described with reference toFIGS. 7A through 7D. FIGS. 7A through 7D are sequential sectional viewsillustrating a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. In detail, FIG. 7Aillustrates that a poly-Si pattern is formed on a substrate, FIG. 7Billustrates that an insulation layer and a drain electrode are formed onthe poly-Si pattern, FIG. 7C illustrates that an insulation layer and acontact hole are formed on the drain electrode, and FIG. 7D illustratesthat the source and drain electrodes are formed through contact holes.For brevity, the description of the method of forming thepolycrystalline silicon thin film will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 7A, an oxide layer 320 is formed on a transparentsubstrate 310, and an amorphous silicon thin film (not shown) is formedon the oxide layer 320. Then, the amorphous silicon thin film isphase-transformed into a polycrystalline silicon thin film (not shown)by laser beam irradiation. The polycrystalline silicon film may beformed using the above-described method. The polycrystalline siliconthin film is patterned to form a polycrystalline silicon pattern 330.

Referring to FIG. 7B, the polycrystalline silicon pattern 330 is coveredwith an insulating film 340 to protect the polycrystalline siliconpattern 330. The insulation layer 340 may be formed by, for example,PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition).

Then, a gate electrode G is formed on the insulating film 340.Preferably, the gate electrode G is disposed on the middle portion ofthe polycrystalline silicon pattern 330. For example, the gate electrodeG may be formed by depositing a metal material on the insulating film340 and etching the deposited metal film.

Referring to FIG. 7C, an insulating layer 350 is formed to cover thegate electrode G and the insulating film 340. The insulation layer 350may be formed by, for example, PECVD, and preferably has a thickness ofnot less than a predetermined level in order to ensure betterreliability of the TFT and to prevent crosstalk. For example, theinsulation layer 350 may have a thickness of 6000 Å or greater.

Then, a portion of the insulating film 340 and a portion of theinsulating layer 350 are etched to form contact holes. The contact holesinclude a first contact hole 352 spaced apart from a side of the gateelectrode G by a predetermined distance to expose a portion of thepolycrystalline silicon pattern 330 and a second contact hole 354 spacedapart from the other side of the gate electrode G by a predetermineddistance to expose a portion of the polycrystalline silicon pattern 330.

Referring to FIG. 7D, there are formed a source electrode S and a drainelectrode D electrically connected to the polycrystalline siliconpattern 330 via the first contact hole 352 and the second contact hole354, respectively. Here, the source electrode S is electricallyconnected with the poly-Si pattern 340 through the first contact hole352 while the drain electrode D is electrically connected with thepoly-Si pattern 340 through the second contact hole 354.

Then, a protection layer 360 covering the source electrode S and thedrain electrode D is formed on the insulating layer 350 to protect thesource electrode S and the drain electrode D. A portion of insulatinglayer 350 is then etched to form a pixel contact hole 362. A transparentpixel electrode 370 is formed on the protection layer 360 in such a wayto be electrically connected to the drain electrode D via the pixelcontact hole 362.

According to this embodiment, the polycrystalline silicon pattern 330formed by laser beam irradiation exhibits high electrical mobility,which makes it possible to manufacture a thin film transistor withimproved electrical characteristics.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 7A through 7D illustrates a top gate modethin film transistor, but the present invention is not limited thereto.The present invention can also be applied to a bottom gate mode thinfilm transistor.

As described above, in a method of forming a polycrystalline siliconthin film with improved electrical characteristics and a method ofmanufacturing a thin film transistor using the method of forming thepolycrystalline silicon thin film of the present invention according tothe present invention, {100} texture grains are predominantly formed byfirst irradiation of a laser beam with a low energy density, and grow bysubsequent irradiation of a laser beam with a high energy density tothereby form silicon grains with major {100} texture and larger grainsize. Therefore, a polycrystalline silicon thin film with improvedelectrical characteristics, e.g., improved electrical mobility, and athin film transistor including the same can be formed.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations andmodifications can be made to the preferred embodiments withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present invention.Therefore, the disclosed preferred embodiments of the invention are usedin a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

1. A method of forming a polycrystalline silicon thin film, the methodcomprising: forming an amorphous silicon thin film on a substrate;partially melting in a region a portion of the amorphous silicon thinfilm by irradiating the region of the amorphous silicon thin film with alaser beam having a first energy density whereby a polycrystallinesilicon film with a predetermined crystalline arrangement are formed inthe region of partially molten amorphous silicon thin film; moving thesubstrate or the laser in a predetermined distance; completely melting aportion of the polycrystalline silicon film within the region, a portionof the amorphous silicon thin film adjacent to the region and aprotruding portion formed in the polycrystalline silicon film byirradiation of a laser beam having a second energy density greater thanthe first energy density.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thepolycrystalline silicon film has a plurality of grains laterally growingfrom either side of the laser beam.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe laser beam is substantially rectangular and has a length greaterthan a width.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the width of the laserbeam is in a range from 2 to 20 μm.
 5. The method of claim 3, whereinthe substrate or the laser beam is moved in a width direction of thelaser beam by not greater than half the width of the laser beam.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the moving of the substrate or the laser inthe width direction of the laser beam is in a range from 1 to 10 μm. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein an overlapping area between two adjacentlaser-irradiated regions is 90% or less of the total area of the twolaser-irradiated regions.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the laserbeam is generated from an excimer laser.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the laser beam has a wavelength in a range from 200 to 400 nm.10. The method of claim 8, wherein the laser beam has a frequency in arange from 300 to 6,000 Hz.